


The Audition

by showtunediva



Category: Cabaret (1972), Chicago (2002)
Genre: Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1919853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showtunediva/pseuds/showtunediva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in  Boston in 1960.  Sally and Roxie meet on a train to an audition for a commerical  and become friends</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Audition

**Author's Note:**

> I own no characters from Cabaret or Chicago. This story is on hiatus because of plot development issues but might eventually be revisited.

It was a bright morning in mid fall and the sun was just rising over Boston Common. Roxie Hart groaned and stretched as she looked at her alarm clock that blared the time in her face 6:45. She wanted to sleep in but she had to catch a train downtown to a 10:45 audition. She only had an hour to shower and get ready and go over what she thought she'd say at her audition one last time. Since moving out of Cooke County and quitting vaudeville she would have to get used to new theatrical experiences and she figured she'd start with television.

She grabbed a small latte and a bagel from a local coffee shop and jumped on the train. It was crowded with commuters and sleepy eyed college students who had 8:30 am classes. She was surprised she even found a seat. She didn't expect someone else who was auditioning would be on the train but as luck would have it and a girl with thick black hair got on the train at the next stop.

"Is this seat taken?" whispered someone with a light German accent.

Roxie looked up from the magazine she was reading. "No, go ahead and take it before someone else does."

"Are you on your way to the audition?" the stranger asked.

"As a matter of fact I am. I'm pretty new to metro Boston. I'm originally from Chicago but spent the past several years traveling the country and the world."

"I'm originally from Germany. We moved to Cincinnati after the war ended but Cliff got a better job as an English Teacher here in Boston so that's why we moved here."

"What made you move all the way from Berlin?"

"The night club I sang at was doing poorly and I was pretty much out of a job. What did you do before moving here?"

"Well, I was in jail."

Sally raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You were? What for?"

"I was accused of killing someone but I was innocent. They let me go. I took a break form performing to travel but now I want to get my head back in the game."

"Are you nervous about the audition?"

"Sort of, are you?"

"Oh yes, this first time auditioning for anything I'm only used to singing in the night club."

Roxie was glad she wasn't the only person who was nervous about the audition.

When they arrived at the TV studio the line was almost pouring out the door. "There must be about 200 people here." Sally said, she looked nervous as she summed the amount of American competition she had.

Roxie was equally as intimidated by the long line of people. "Yeah I guess lots of people must have seen the audition notice in The Herald. They said it was open call."

As soon as check in ended the auditioners were split up into two different rooms. There was a total of 250 people so Sally was not too far off with her estimation.. Sally and Roxie were into two different audition groups. Everything seemed to go slowly at first and then Roxie finally went. She was #17 in her group. She tried to be as suave as possible because this was certainly different from vaudeville. They had her to a blind reading with a script and a partner scene. It wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be.

When she was done, Roxie went back into the hallway to look for Sally she was still waiting in line outside her room. "Really slow process, isn't it? Roxie asked her.

"Yeah, I'm #45 and they're only on 7. How did you do?"

"Pretty good I think. I just hope they call me back. I'll hang out and wait for you if you want."

"That would be great."

Roxie looked at her watch it was 11:45. She figured Sally would be out of the audition room by 2:30."

The casting studio was on the third floor. Roxie went down to the first floor and went into the bookstore that was in the lobby. She needed to get information about this place she would be calling home from now on. She want to the travel section immediately and got immersed in travel guide after travel guide about Boston and even decided to buy a few of them. Maybe she and Sally would do some sightseeing if there was enough time left in the day after the audition or maybe later that week. She looked at her watch. It was 2:35. Sally had to be done with her audition by now. She dashed up to the third floor. Sally was standing outside the audition room looking distraught.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't think I did very well. The director didn't seem to understand half of what I was saying because of my accent and I was pretty nervous too."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you did fine. They're going to do callbacks tomorrow. Let's go get something to eat."

"Okay."

Roxie smiled. She was happy she had met a new friend. She just hoped that they would both get a part in the commercial.


	2. The Calback

In the weeks following the audition for the Gap Commercial the anxiety between both Roxie and Sally mounted. They tried to talk about the audition and the various outcomes as little as possible. It wasn't until two weeks after the audition when Sally invited Roxie over for dinner at her apartment that the topic of the audition would come up again.

Roxie arrived at Sally's West Roxbury apartment at 5:15 pm on Thursday evening. A tall blonde haired man answered the door.

"Hello, you must be Roxie. Sally has told me so much about you. I'm Cliff."

Roxie smiled pleased to finally meet Sally's boyfriend. "Very nice to meet you Cliff."

"Come on in." Cliff said as he took her jacket….within moments Sally emerged from the kitchen.

"Hi Rox, dinner's just about ready. Let's sit down."

Roxie could smell something intoxicatingly delicious coming from the kitchen. "Something smells good." She said

Cliff smiled " One thing that's good about Sally is that she's an amazing cook. Her pasta dishes are heavenly."

Cliff and Roxie followed Sally into the dining room and sat down across from each other at the table. "Sal. Do you need any help?" asked Roxie.

"Nope. I've got everything under control. Just relax."

Soon dinner began.

"So Roxie , Sally tells me you were very helpful to her during the audition process."  
"I tried to be as helpful as I could. I was glad to have met her on the train. I would have been so lost that and nervous if I had no one to go through that process with alone." Roxie said as she and Sally exchanged a smile.

" Have you heard back from the casting director yet?" Sally asked Roxie

Roxie shook her head. "No, still waiting. They're sure taking a long time to decide aren't they? It's taken them almost two weeks.

"I've been so anxious. I have no idea how well I did or if get the part."

Roxie squeezed her friend's hand comfortingly. "I've been the same way. I've been on pins and needles for the past several days but the phone hasn't rung once about a call back."

Cliff smiled at his girlfriend and her friend reassuringly "You girls are getting yourselves worked up for no reason at all. You're both very talented and I think you both have a solid chance at getting the part."

Roxie wasn't so sure that they'd both get cast and neither was Sally.

Roxie spent hours just talking and getting to know Cliff better. He led a very interesting life with his writing. He was currently working at a literature professor at Northeastern University. Roxie thought the story of how Sally and Cliff had met in Berlin was truly romantic. She hoped that eventually she would find a gentleman who be so affectionate toward her as Cliff was toward Sally.

Around 11:00 Sally walked Roxie down to her cab.

"Thanks for such a wonderful evening Sally. Cliff is a gem and dinner was delicious. You guys will have to come over to my place soon."

"Anytime, love. We'd love to come over. Just lest us know when."

The two friends embraced

"Don't stress out too much about the call back, okay?" Sally said. I'm sure we'll both have a good chance at getting the part though you might have a slight advantage over me."

"I'm crossing my fingers for both of us love."

Roxie's cab pulled up to the curb. The two friends hugged goodbye.

When Roxie got back to her apartment her message machine was flashing. Finger shaking, she pressed the button. It was the gentleman from the talent agency.

"Ms. Hart. This is regards to your audition for the Gap commercial. We'd like to call you back for the second round of auditions. Please be at the studio at 1:30 a week from this Wednesday. Thank you."

Roxie was elated that her anxiety could finally end and she could finally get some decent sleep. She only hoped that Sally would get good news about her audition in the coming days.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally does not get cast in thecommerical and Roxie helps her research other options.

Roxie had , mixed emotions. She was excited to be cast in the Gap commercial but was anxious to find out if Sally had gotten cast also. The casting director must have called the night before when she was at Sally's house for dinner. She decided to call Sally to find out if she had heard anything.

Sally picked up on the first ring.

"Did you hear back from the casting director yet?"

"Yes. Did you?"

"Still waiting."

Roxie's heart dropped. If Sally hadn't heard back yet that meant there was a possibility she didn't get cast.

"Did you get cast?"

"Yes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you."

"I'll call you back as soon I hear something."

"Sounds good to me."

While Roxie waited on pins and needles for Sally to call her back she practiced for the read through on Monday.

Within the hour the phone rang

"So what's the report?"

"I didn't get in."

"Well there's always the next one."

"Can you come over and help me look through the paper for audition notices?"

"Sure. What time?"

"30 minutes from now."

"Sure."

When Roxie arrived at Sally's house the newspapers were spread out on the table.

"What kind of audition are you aiming for?" Roxie asked

"Just about anything. I need more experience." Sally answered.

The sat down together and peered through the audition notices.

They scanned down the list for what seemed like a half hour before Sally finally saw something that caught her eye.

"This role seems perfect for me."

Roxie peered over at the newspaper. The ad was looking for someone who German to play a German housewive in a play set during the war."

"This is perfect for you. You have the accent and everything. Give the casting director a call now."

Sally went to the phone and dialed.


End file.
